Dear Gods Give Me Strength
by HeartOfPlumbum
Summary: When Ziosime learns her brother had been kidnapped all she wants to do is save him but her only lead brings her to a man named Stefan. With an amnesiac vampire's help Ziosime sets off to find her brother and to kill the one that took him from her.
1. Chapter I

Ziosime can pinpoint the exact moment her brother was turned into a vampire.

It was back around 500 B.C.E when the most popular time of Greece was starting, the two hundred year period now referred to as the Classical age of Greece. Back when she was still a simple priestess at the temple for Apollo. She was one among several and her only job was to keep the temple in order to Apollo's liking.

She had always know she was a witch, something proudly but secretly passed down through the women on her mother's side of the family. For some strange reason it never touched the men which made the women feel as if they should keep it from them. Ziosime was the only one to break this unspoken rule.

She had told Basileus, her brother, when their parents died, leaving them orphaned in a growing city. Due to the societal views Basileus was her only ticket to being able to do something with her life besides being wed off so she felt it was best not only so she wouldn't have to hide it but also so she could have someone to help her figure out the large world that was magic.

Even before her parents had died Ziosime had been quite close to her brother, he was only one year older and always felt the need to protect her (though due to his rash thinking Ziosime sometimes got the feeling she was protecting him). He had immediately accepted her secret and had even gone as far as taking her two towns over—where there stood a shrine for Hecate–once a month.

By the time she was seventeen she was quite knowledgeable in the art of witchcraft. There was still much for her to learn but at the moment she was content with what she knew because any further knowledge would have to be tracked down. Well that is she was content until she was blindsided by a Basileus appearing in the dead of night after being missing for three days, covered in blood.

It didn't take long for her to figure out what had happened but it also didn't take long for him to pack up his bags and leave with a man she had never even seen before. As said before, Ziosime knew her brother well which meant she was well aware of his certain preferences when it came to lovers. She also knew that a secret love affair that was taboo in all definitions of the word was just up his ally.

Ziosime became mad at herself because she should have seen the signs of her brother falling in "love" earlier. It was especially maddening since it was with someone that had gone and not only stolen him from her but also turned him into something that he would never want to be. But what was done was done so like the good sister she always strived to be, she diligently followed the pair as the rampaged the country side causing enough chaos for the people to start sacrificing animals to the gods in hopes of stopping it.

There was no stopping it because instead of an enraged deity it was two men high on love and blood.

When it did come to an end it was a horrid one. There was a hunter that had taken notice of them and had gone after them. Ziosime was able to save her brother but not his lover, who Ziosime later learned was named Gabriel.

Gabriel's death put a darkness in her brother's heart which showed Ziosime that she could never leave him. So Ziosime had dragged her still mourning brother on a quest for information. She wanted a spell to make her live forever so that her brother would be able to too.

It took months but she finally found a witch in China who was working on a spell. With both of their minds put together they managed to put together a spell that looked like it was going to work but instead of prolonging her life it sped it up so that she aged to dust before Ziosime's eyes. But that just made Ziosime work harder and it wasn't long until she found a way to make her as immortal as a vampire.

The thing that had been missing before was something to balance what she was wanting to do which meant she had to take a life to gain hers. Ziosime hated hurting anything, it was actually the reason she had vied for a position at Apollo's temple because there she would do healing not hurting. It only took one look at her still broken brother though for her decide that it didn't matter what she didn't want to do but what she had to do.

It was once she had done what went against everything in her nature for her brother that Basileus finally came back to her.

The next years were a blur of traveling throughout the world, watching as civilizations became empires and dynasties. As wars were lost and won as places branched out and were rewarded with bountiful colonies. As people were discriminated and as people rose up.

It was just her and her brother and everything was fine. There was the occasional deemed by fate love on her brother's part but she was always there to pick up the pieces.

Of course there is always a tipping point.

It was in the fifties and this time her brother had found a vampire to love instead of a human. Her brother was completely sure it would work out since it was someone that would be able to join them for eternity and Ziosime actually believed that he might actually join them. That, of course, was when they stumbled upon a rogue werewolf on a full moon.

Jordan, her brother's lover, managed to get bitten and died a slow death. They knew werewolf bites were deadly and though Ziosime tried, there was no magic that existed that could help them.

It might have been because it was slow and painful or it might have been because Basileus had lost so many people he loved but the night Jordan died was the night Basileus turned off his emotions.

Ziosime had heard of it happening but she had always assumed that Basileus was too strong to give into the temptation, that she was all he needed. She shouldn't have underestimated his lack of control on his emotions though.

She had tried to reason with her emotionless brother but he was gone and there was nothing she could say to bring him back. The next morning she woke to find him and his clothes gone.

Ziosime decided since she needed to do something to make herself feel productive because there was no way she was going to be able to get her brother back until he was ready. So she started searching for knowledge ranging from witchcraft to mechanics. She grew as a witch and as a scholar, her years of experience helping her to learn quickly making her a very powerful witch.

Throughout the years she continued to keep an eye on her brother learning through old friends, the human news, and magic what his whereabouts were. She kept an ear out for him while still continuing her search for knowledge and everything was as good as it could be with her brother off playing robot.

That is, until it wasn't.

She had been peacefully reading when she felt a disturbance in the force that tied her and her brother together, something she had initiated a few years back to help her know when he was in danger. Not knowing what had happened she called a friend in the area to check it out but the new she got back was nothing but bad.

She learned a man named Silas was trying to find his doppelgangers (which apparently Basileus was one) because he wanted to die. She proceeded to research as much as she could on Silas and on doppelgangers. There was only one conclusion and that was that it was time to find her brother.

Another source told her that they saw Silas put a man who looked like her brother in a lake in Virginia the unnerving thing was that a witch by the name of Qetsiyah wanted her brother for the same reason (why they didn't work together Ziosime could not figure out) and was trying to find where Silas had put him.

Since she couldn't let her find him first Ziosime immediately hopped in her 1971 canary yellow jeep wrangler (aka her baby) and sped off in the direction of Virginia. She was lucky enough to only be in Tennessee and not too far from this Mystic Falls.

It was two o'clock in the morning the night she finally reached the town. She found a cheap motel and got a room deciding it was best to retrieve him in the morning. She fell asleep hoping he would have his emotions on when she found him.

She got up bright and early and drove the 45 minute drive to the surprisingly beautiful lake. There was no one there that she could sense so she quickly made her way out to the shore of the lake. Lifting her hands and reaching out her magic for Basileus. She felt he aura but it felt just a bit off but she wrote it off as whatever pain he was in at the moment.

When she located his body she used the water to pull him towards her. After a few minutes of concentration a thick safe slid up to the shore. The bottom of it was getting lapped at by the gentle waves the slight wind was causing but Ziosime ignored the water soaking her sandals as she stood staring at the safe.

With magic on her side it was easy to crack the code and soon enough she was faced with an unconscious man. She thought it was her brother until she put her hand on his cheek to wake him and everything felt wrong.

She didn't know who he was but she knew that if he was a doppelganger than he was important and definitely an asset. She was just wondering how she should wake him when he sat up gasping for breath.

She let him regain his breath for a moment before deciding it would be best if she introduced herself first, knowing he will be very confused once he realizes what just happened.

"Hello dear," She started and he looked over surprised, probably not expecting a complete stranger. Kneeling down so she was at his height she continued. "My name is Ziosime and I am a witch. Can you tell me who you are?"

The man seemed to be weighing his choices before replying, "Stefan Salvatore, vampire." He looked at her and then looked at his surroundings, still confused. "What just happened?"

Ziosime squinted her eyes and tilted her head, something was wrong. "Before I answer that can you tell me one more thing? What do your remember?"

Stefan frowned and seemed to think for a moment. "My name is Stefan Salvatore and I have a brother named Damon, though I can't think of what he looks like. There is something about someone name Silas but I can't fully find it. And water lots of water."

Ziosime frowned, this was not good. "I can't tell you anything about your brother or you yourself but I can tell you about Silas." He nodded for her to continue, "I know he is a very old and very powerful witch and that he is looking for his doppelgangers to complete a spell that will let him die. You are one of those doppelgangers and my brother is another, which is why I am here." Ziosime wondered if Stefan would help even though he didn't have memories to let him know she was doing the right thing.

"I assume that if Silas dies I have to die too?" Stefan asked, growing uncomfortable.

"With the spell he is using you have to die for him to die so suppose yes." Ziosime replied biting her lip. She decided it was now or never to get Stefan on her side. "Stefan I have a proposition for you." She said quietly before she could think about it more. She didn't know what kind of vampire he was so she really hoped he was at least a decent one.

"Go on." Stefan replied with suspicion clear in his voice.

"If you help me find my brother I will help you get rid of Silas." She said simply, there being no need to complicate it any more than that.

"How can you kill him without killing me?" Stefan asked, the suspicion growing.

Ziosime tried to think of how to explain it, "There are loopholes in every spell we just need to find them. In theory we should be able to kill Silas without hurting you or my brother."

Stefan frowned and thought for a moment. Ziosime held her breath as he mulled the new information over. If he decided to go against her then she didn't know how likely it would be that both she and Basileus got out of this safe and sound.

Ziosime was broken out of her thoughts as Stefan made a humming sound and nodded, "OK Miss Z." He stretched out his hand to her to shake, "You've got a deal."

**Disclaimer: Only own my OCs and stuff**

**-So yah I'm writing another story we will just leave it at that**

**-I'm not really sure the extent of what witches in VD can do so I apologize if things she does aren't necessarily cannon. I am going to keep doing them though so just pretend they are, I will try to keep it as cannon as I can.**

**-I am a huge history nerd so be prepared for random facts Ziosime is going to bust out.**

**-She is Greek so she will speak in Greek on occasion along with some other languages (hey if I lived that long I would try to be able to speak as many as I could). Anything in another language I will get from Google Translate so sorry if it is wrong or butchered or whatever. **

**-Also she will be mentioning the Greek gods and goddesses just because that is the religion she grew up with so it isn't like some weird myth we read about in classes. I'm not entirely how much she will still believe in them though. **


	2. Chapter II

"Are you hungry?" Ziosime asked once she had gotten Stefan out of the safe and they were making their way up to her car. "I have some blood bags for you in my trunk. I am sorry that you cannot drink from the source but I am trying to stay as low key as I can."

Stefan's eyes seemed to darken as soon as she mentioned blood. "Right now it doesn't really matter how I get the blood." He stated, his fangs already sliding out.

Ziosime just nodded and headed to the back of her car, opening the door and looking for her cooler. She had learned from her brother that around a hungry vampire it was best to just stay out of their way, anything else would have them turn on you.

When she found it she brought the small cooler closer and opened it up. She stepped aside to allow Stefan access, which he gladly took. After every single bag she brought was drained Stefan turned to her, blood still dripping down his face, with a content look in his eye.

Ziosime frowned and shifted through all of the miscellaneous things in her trunk until she found an old towel, "Why don't you go run back to the lake and clean yourself up." She handed the towel over, "We need to go back into town and we can't have you looking like a crime scene."

Stefan nodded and used his vampiric speed to race back to the lake. Ziosime used the time to get herself seated in the driver's seat and to check the GPS on her phone to make sure she knew the way back. Since it was summer she had the hardtop off of her jeep which let a nice breeze float through the parked car.

Though it didn't get as hot in this part of the country as it did where she grew up it still got hot enough for her make light loose fitting clothes a staple in her wardrobe. She preferred to wear what was called "boho" clothing because it was comfortable and reminded her of the dresses she wore back in ancient times.

Today she wore a loose white spaghetti strap dress with a brown braded belt around her waist. She to accessorize she wore a long necklace of oddly shaped turquoise beads and gold bangles on her left arm. Over all of that was a long loose sweater made of a shear turquoise fabric. On her feet were another staple of her wardrobe, those being her sandals which were another thing that reminded her of her style growing up.

It wasn't long before Stefan returned looking much more presentable in modern society. "What should I do with this?" He held up the now dirtied towel as he slid into the passenger seat.

"Just put it in the back," Ziosime instructed as she started the car. "I'll wash it later." Over the years of living with a vampire she had discovered some very unique ways of getting blood out of clothes.

"What are we going to do once we are in town?" Stefan asked once they were on the main road and the silence had become deafening.

"I suppose finding this brother you may or may not remember would be a good first step." Ziosime chose her next words carefully, "At the moment there are more forces working against us than with us so it will be better to find as many allies as we can."

Stefan frowned and seemed deep in thought for a moment, "How are we going to do that? I mean I can't even remember what he looks like, let alone where he would be. All I can remember is that his name is Damon and he is my brother."

"I hoping that once we get to a familiar place you remember more. If not we will probably go to somewhere popular to see if anyone recognizes you." Ziosime explained before her calm demeanor turned strained, "That is of course if you are even from Mystic Falls if you are not then we will start over from square one."

"From square one?" Stefan prompted.

"We will have to ask around town and my contacts, hoping someone saw something somewhere that will help us. "If all else fails we wait. Silas can't kill my brother or himself if he doesn't have you so we will be able to wait until Silas finds us or you remember more." Ziosime elaborated.

"You don't sound very excited about doing that." Stefan observed, studying Ziosime as she concentrated on driving.

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the wheel tighter. "I do not know what state my brother is in at the moment but from seeing what Silas did to you it can't be good so I would like to rescue him as soon as possible." Ziosime let out a deep sigh, trying to calm herself. "But I do understand that there is only so much we can do until we are at a certain point where the odds of us dying are the same or less than the odds of Silas dying if we went head to head in a fight."

"You don't thing we would be able to win?" Stefan asked, looking surprised at her confession.

"Silas is a very old witch, even older than my brother and I and that is saying something." Ziosime chuckled at the thought. It always amazed her how she still managed to look seventeen even though she was older than the U.S. "He has had a lot of time to learn tricks to not only camouflage himself but to also give himself an advantage. Plus I do not know enough about the spell he wants to use to change it so that only he dies so trying to face him now would be like giving you back."

Stefan lowered his eyebrows as he thought this all out, "So what are we going to do? Hide once we find my brother?"

Ziosime shook her head, "No we are going to make Silas think that we don't have a care in the world. That it doesn't matter to us how much he sees you because we have a secret weapon up our sleeve."

"But we don't," Stefan pointed out.

"No we don't," Ziosime agreed. "But we will soon I will just need to do research. This spell is probably as old as or older than Silas is so it will take me some time to get to some of my old spell books to research."

"So basically we are going to fake it until we make it?" Stefan asked a smirk finding its way to his face.

"If you want to put it in simple terms that is correct." Stefan may not be her brother but she was glad she saved him he seemed the perfect mix of sassy and sweet and Ziosime could see them becoming great friends.

~-_0_-~

For the rest of the ride they sat in comfortable silence, Stefan enjoying being out of the safe and Ziosime enjoying the time to sort out her thoughts.

As soon as they reached the town Ziosime began glancing over at her passenger but he continued to sport the slightly blank look he had, had since she had retrieved him. Deciding it was time to move on to plan b. She hadn't really eaten breakfast that morning so she decided on the Mystic Grill as their destination because it was supposed to have great food and it was already bustling with lunch guests.

"If any human begins talking to you like they are your best friend just go with it. If it's a supernatural being proceed how you wish." She advised Stefan before slipping out of her car.

He followed at her heel as they entered the dark lit restaurant. Ziosime was about to lead her new ally back to a nice corner booth where they would be able to observe their surroundings the easiest but before Ziosime could take another step she noticed a young man and woman sitting close to the front looking at Stefan surprised.

"I believe it is time for you to take the lead," Ziosime said as she subtly pointed them out. Stefan faltered for only a moment before striding over to the pair, this time with Ziosime the one following.

"Stefan why are you back so soon? I thought you were going home?" The girl asked as they approached, it was then that she noticed Ziosime so she added, "Who is this? What's going on?"

Ziosime could see the gears in Stefan's head working as he tried to process the questions. "You said I just left? As in you just saw me walk out the door."

The man widened his eyes dramatically as he answered the question, "Of course. I do believe you are getting duller by the day baby bro." Ziosime noted the reference to brother so she guessed this was the aforementioned Damon just like she assumed Stefan was doing.

After another moment of Stefan staring at the pair intensely he turned to Ziosime, his face full of confusion. "You are his doppelganger and I know for a fact you three look completely identical which means there is nothing that dispels the theory that he has been parading around as you." Ziosime guessed, it was just a theory but it was the only one that made sense.

"Excuse me doppelganger? Parading around? Who exactly are you talking about?" Damon asked looking between the two, trying to practically will answers out of them.

"I believe the talk will be easier if we are all sitting down." Ziosime decided and waited for Damon to nod his head and gesture to the bench across from him in the girl before she slid in, Stefan right behind her. Stefan seemed confused where to start, probably because he only learned this a few hours ago himself, so Ziosime decided to take pity on him.

Folding her hands in front of her she turned to the pair across from them. "Are you aware of a man named Silas?"

**Disclaimer: Nope**


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